Sketch by David Olère, former member of the Sonderkommando, drawn in 1946 and showing the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorium III. Upper left is the air extraction duct. The gas chamber was beyond the far end of the room, off to the right.

Document 84[Painting by David Olère]
Canvas by David Olère, 131 cm by 162 cm, entitled “GASSING BY Zyklon-B”. The dominant color is a blue of the same shade as the Zyklon-B pellets. It is not known if and how David Olère was able to witness such a scene through the peephole of the gas-tight door of the gas chamber, without being detected by the SS, and in any case, the lights were usually switched off, though there may well have been exceptions to this rule. Whether the picture is entirely imaginary or is based on what the artist actually saw, this is the only one showing a homicidal gassing.

Document 85[Sketch by David Olère, 1946]

Extracting the corpses from the gas chamber of Krematorium III, as remembered by David Olère. The gas-tight door, a little wider and thicker than the real thing, is similar in pattern to that found after the Liberation, despite the fact that the protective grid over the peephole on the inside of the door is different from that drawn by the former prisoner Konrad Gracz [declaration of 7th 1979 “Oswiadczenia”, volume 92, pages 235 to 247]. It is unfortunate that in order to make a bigger impression David Olère has drawn the end of a 3-muffle furnace, whereas they were on the ground floor, not in the basement.

Document 86[Sketch by David Olère, 1946]

A woman's hair being sheared off by a “barber” and gold teeth being extracted by a “dentist”, both members of the Sonder- kommando, being closely watched by an SS man. The scene is situated INSIDE the gas chamber of a Krematorium of type II/III, as shown by the wire mesh Zyklon-B introduction column in the background.